Finding Wonderland
by silver-roses12
Summary: Alice struggles with returning to Wonderland as she finds herself in the dreary streets of London. What will happen? I'm terrible at summaries...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Alice in Wonderland" or "Sweeny Todd the demon Barber of fleet street". I just like to take the characters and have fun putting them in my own plot. **

Rain pelted down on the city of London. It was within everyone's best interest to stay inside on such a bleak evening. Unfortunately there were those that had no shelter. A young blonde woman leaned against the slimy ally wall of Wendlton Avenue, quite out of breath. Her hair and blue dress were both filthy and hung from the weight of the water. Spotting a create down the dark alley she wandered over to rest her weary bones. She couldn't help but smile a little at the joy of escaping a group of men who had been pursuing her. She had no doubt in her mind what they wanted her for, and it sent a shiver down her spine. The two weeks she had spent living in the street had toughened her up a lot. The innocent and naive glimmer in her eye had all but disappeared.

'_Has it only been two weeks?'_ Alice wondered. It seemed to her to be a life time ago that she had returned from wonderland and her life had fallen apart.

_Alice stumbled through the woods of the Ascot's manor trying to retrace her steps back to the party. She tried to thinks of a reasonable explanation which would excuse her ripped and dirtied clothing and slightly tangled hair, but could only come up with falling in a hole. It was partially true at least. _

_The trees began to thin and she soon found herself back at the gazebo with Hamish gaping at her ghastly appearance. With her newly regained muchness she didn't feel the least bit self-conscious._

"_Alice" he uttered in disgust._

"_Good lord! Are you alright?" asked Lord Ascot._

"_What happened to you?" asked her mother, feigning concern. Alice knew when she got home she would be in a lot of trouble for embarrassing her family like that, but right now she couldn't care less._

_She glanced around the party guests and quickly gave her excuse. She wanted nothing more than to leave the party and the pompous guests, and at the same time leave her opinionated farewell with them. If all went according to plan she would never have to see these snobbish fools again._

_First she declined Hamish's offer claiming that he was not the right man for her. This was entirely true and her heart momentarily ached as she thought of a different red head that she left in Wonderland. She then moved on to her sister, Margaret, to assure her that she would live her own life and not the dream Margaret had in mind. Next she warned her brother-in-law, Lowell, to be good to her sister. She advised Aunt Imogene to speak to someone about her delusions. She told Lady Ascot of her love for rabbits, especially white ones. She calmly told her mother that she would do something useful with her life, and lastly she confessed to the Chattaway twins that they reminded her of some funny boys she met in a dream. _

"_You left me out." Lord Ascot said with a smirk._

"_No I haven't sir" Alice turned to face him. Lord Ascot could see a glint in her eyes similar to the one Charles Kingsleigh use to have."You and I have business to discuss. "_

"_Shall we speak in the study?" He suggested. Alice gave a hasty nod and turned back to the Ascot's manor. Suddenly she had an impulse to do something truly daring that would make everyone here remember exactly who Alice Kinsleigh was. She turned to face the crowd around the gazebo._

"_Oh and one more thing..." Alice lifted up her skirt to reveal her stockingless legs and futterwackened to the best of her ability. She grinned at their shocked faces and took her departure. _

_Inside Lord Ascot's study Alice explained her plan of expanding her father's company to China._

"_It's vast, the culture's rich, and we have a foot hold in Hong Kong. To be the first to trade with China, can you imagine it?" Alice asked excitedly. Visions of completing her father's dream made her beam with pride. However Lord Ascot did not appear to be as pleased as she was. On the contrary he looked rather bored and disappointed. _

"_Trading with China?" He asked in disbelief. "And here I thought you might have had a useful idea. You are just like your father. He always had his head in the clouds and didn't have any common sense."_

"_Excuse me?" Alice asked stiffly._

"_This has been a rather disappointing day, Alice." He said as though she hadn't spoken at all. "Seeing as you refuse the profitable merger of our families I can see you have no further business here. I must ask you and your family to leave." _

_Alice stood trembling with anger at the man who dared insult her family so. For a moment silence passed between them as Alice tried to make a coherent thought to say and Lord Ascot waited for her to leave. Lord Ascot wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her toward the door._

"_I think it would be wise for you to remember Alice, dear, that business is no place for a woman. Good day". And with that the door was closed in her face. Alice stood in the hall wondering what to do next now that her perfectly laid plan was destroyed. What would become of her?_

_Later that evening Alice sat on the piano bench in the living room of her home. As she had predicted her mother was furious with her behaviour at the Ascot's manor. Mrs. Kingsleigh paced in front on where Alice sat, rant in full swing._

"_You will be the death of me, Alice! I swear it! We must go back to the Ascot's manor tomorrow and you will ask, neigh beg, for Hamish to have you! It will be a most profitable marriage for both our families and-"_

"_No I will not." Alice cut her mother off. A stunned silence passed between them in which all that could be heard was the ticking of the grandfather clock. _

"_I beg your pardon, Alice" said with a hand pressed to her heart. "But that will not do. You will go tomorrow-"_

"_I refuse" said Alice firmly. She rose from her seat and took a few steps to be close to her mother. "I will marry whomever I choose, and it will be for love not money."_

"_You selfish girl! Why can't you be more like Margaret? She was married young and to a respectable man. "_

_Alice felt anger bubble up in her at the thought of Lowell ever being considered respectable, and also at being compared to Margaret. This was a frequent occurrence in the Kingsleigh household. Whenever Alice's daydreaming or odd comments were the cause of her mother's embarrassment the response was "Why can't you be more like Margaret?"_

_Since Charles Kingsleigh had passed away his wife Helen had become particularly bitter toward their daughter, Alice. Helen took every opportunity to remind Alice what a burden she was to the family and how much easier life would be if Charles had not persuaded Helen in to adopting Alice. _

_After Margaret was born Charles wanted to have another child. However when no child came they resolved, quite begrudgingly on Helen's behalf, to go to an orphanage and adopt. Charles had wanted a boy, but he fell in love with Alice's charm and quirky imagination. And so, 6 year old Alice Barker became Alice Kingsleigh. _

"_Are you trying to burden me the rest of my life?" Helen's bitter question derailed Alice's train of thought. _

"_No. You are wealthy enough for me to never be a burden." Alice said smugly. Helen face flushed with anger and she impulsively slapped Alice across the face. The blow sent Alice reeling back a few paces. She felt she spot on her check and knew there would be a bruise there tomorrow. Helen glared at Alice._

"_How dare you speak to me like that you ingrate!" She yelled. "Even after I fed and clothed you for so many years!" _

_Alice left the room as Helen's voice screeched after her to come back. She ignored her and continued on to her room and locked the door. She sat on her bed. Tears stung at her eyes and she tried to ignore the aching in her heart. Helen and Alice had never had the best relationship, but Helen had never hit Alice before. A deep feeling of being unwanted saturated her very soul, and finally the tears broke free and streaked down her face. _

_The slap had severed the ties Alice had to the Kingsleighs. She no longer wanted to be a part of it. Alice felt so alone even though the house was inhabited by Helen, Margaret, and many servants. She felt that she had no one left in the world who loved her. _

"_**No one left in this world anyway." **__Alice thought. She dried her eyes as the image of the Mad Hatter pervaded her mind. He had genuinely seemed to care for her and the only reason why she had left Wonderland was to pursue her father's dream. There was nothing left for her now. She had only been in her world for 9 hours and she already missed the Hatter so much. This time she would stay in Wonderland for good. _

_The midnight moon hung in the sky and illuminated the woods of the Ascot's home. Alice Kingsleigh trudged through the woods in search of the rabbit hole she had fallen in 12 hours prior. She retraced her steps exactly and found the tree which the rabbit hole was beside. _

_Alice stared at the black hole in the ground for a moment and tightened her grip on her bag of clothes. She thought that maybe this time she would land on her feet if she jumped in feet first. It made sense to her. So with a deep apprehensive breath Alice closed her eyes and jumped in to the hole. _

_She promptly hit solid ground. Opening her eyes, Alice realized that she was standing knee deep in a real rabbit hole. But this was the place that she had climbed out of earlier, she was sure of it. Alice frantically looked around and saw everything she remembered when she had climbed out of the hole earlier. Alice's heart pounded loudly in her chest. Despair swept over her as she realized that her way back to all that she loved was gone. She climbed out of the hole and sat on the grass by the tree. _

_She would never see them again. The White Queen, the tweedles, Absolam, the March Hare, Mallymkun, the Hatter..._

"_No."____She whispered to herself. "I promised him I would be back, and I will keep my promise." _

_Alice remained sitting on the grass, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of the dew seeping through her dress, and thought back to when she was six and first fell through the rabbit hole. It had not happened at the Ascot's Property, that she knew for certain. It had been near her own home. She had just finished her school lessons and was playing out side..._

_The only reasonable answer that Alice came up with was that Wonderland logic was strange and warped. Not everyone could understand it, and some people might even be afraid of such a strange world. Maybe Wonderland felt it necessary to protect itself by means of constantly changing the entrance. _

'_**Yes, that must be it.' **__Alice thought. __**'Now I just have to find another entrance...'**_

_Suddenly Alice's world seemed much more vast and the mission she planned to embark upon looked daunting. _

'_**No, Alice you must not think like that.' **__Alice thought with a determined gleam in her eye. She got up and attempted to dust off her damp dress. She picked up her bag, and with purposeful steps left the Ascot's woods and her old life behind. _

_Alice soon learned how hard life was on the street. Within 2 days a gang of street children had stolen her bag. She roamed around the streets of London penniless, with only the clothes on her back. She had met some very strange people. She thought it odd that all the homeless people could be segregated in to two categories. Either they where the nicest people she had ever met who were genuinely concerned about her well being, or they tried to rob or rape her. She had been successful in escaping the people who meant harm to her. _

_For two weeks Alice had spent her time begging in the street for money and searching for anything which might be a Wonderland entrance. She constantly jumped in puddles, pot holes, and of course rabbit holes (When she found herself out in forest areas). _

_A valuable lesson that Alice learned from a kind, yet mentally unstable, beggar woman was to hid your money in your basque to prevent theft. The woman was one of the kindest people she had ever met. Upon meeting her, the woman stared at her with looming wide eyes. _

"_Don't I know you, miss?" She asked. _

"_No, I don't believe so, ma'am" replied Alice with a gentle smile. The woman seemed to be struggling with whatever sanity she had left .It looked As though she were trying to remember something that happened long ago. Finally she gave up, and she turned and gave her call for alms. _

Alice snapped out of her thoughts as a clap of thunder sounded above. The rain had not let up for nearly two hours. Shivering on her create, Alice knew she couldn't continue living like this. However she also knew she couldn't go home.

With her fruitless search for Wonderland entrances, Alice was feeling frustrated and depressed. Living a pampered life had hardly prepared her for the shock of the real world. She couldn't count how many rich people had shouted insults or spat on her when she asked for money.

'_I have to support myself now and get a job.' _Alice thought. She recalled Lord Ascot's last words to her. '_I think it would be wise for you to remember Alice, dear, that business is no place for a woman'. _

'_But who will hire me? I've become a filthy street rat.' _Alice's thoughts nagged at her as she made her way over to a doorway which would keep her mostly dry for the rest of the night.

'_I have to try.' _Alice settled down on the hard ground and felt the fatigue of the day weigh down on her. She gladly gave in to sleep.

**I know that was a lot of information to process. I hope you found it interesting and fun. I had fun writing it. More Chapters to come! I promise! Please, Please, Please REVIEW! I will love you forever if you do! **

**PS: A basque is a fitted bodice on Victorian style dresses. It turns out that putting money in your bra has been around for hundreds of years. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or settings. However the plot is mine! Please Read and Review! I live off of reviews, and I honestly want to know what you think. **

The early morning city sounds woke Alice from her slumber. She had been a deep sleeper all of her life. Before she doubted a hurricane could wake her, however the dangers of the street forced her to become a very light sleeper. Begrudgingly Alice woke from her peaceful dream. She cursed the city in her head for waking her from the only good dream she had had in a while.

She had this dream many times before. It might have been a memory that Alice's brain refused to forget, or it might have been created by her imagination. Alice thought it was more likely to be the former then the latter as the woman in it seemed familiar.

_In the dream the woman, who was a great deal taller than Alice as she had to kneel to be on eye level, handed her something and then said, "No matter what happens you must not forget us, darling". Then the woman would give her a kiss on the forehead and turn to leave. Once she had left Alice's dream shifted to a very familiar scene. The Hatter sat at his place at the head of the long tea table and Alice sat to his right. Alice's heart leapt at the sight of him, even if it was only in her subconscious. He poured himself a cup of tea, and focused his brilliant green eyes on her._

"_I've missed you so much!" Alice exclaimed throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace. The Hatter didn't respond. He just sat there stiff as a bored. Alice felt his discomfort and released him. _

"_What's wrong?" She asked hesitantly, already knowing the answer. The Hatter looked at her with sad eyes. _

"_Why did you leave?" He asked in a small voice. For a moment Alice just sat starring at him. She couldn't quite remember why she left actually. "There are so many things left to do down here." He continued. "We still need to figure out how a raven is like a writing desk. And we need to figure out why this clock works not ticking properly." He pulled his pocket watch out of his jacket pocket and opened up the back of it to reveal that there was butter slathered in it. Alice grabbed the watch and studied it closely._

"_There are crumbs in this butter. That must be why it's not working." She stated while handing The Hatter his watch back. _

"_You still haven't answered why you left." Hatter said. Alice fidgeted with her fingers a little. This was a habit that she did whenever she was nervous. _

"_I've been trying to find my way back! I really have, you must believe me!" She cried desperately. She couldn't bear to see him so sad and disappointed. "And anyway," She continued "It doesn't matter. I'm here now am I not?"_

_The Hatter seemed to cheer up at this and proceeded to pour her some tea. "Yes, I suppose that will do for now." He replied. They chatted for a little while until the sound of a door banging shut woke Alice._

For a little while Alice just sat in the door way she had fallen asleep in and groggily tried to remember what she was going to do today. Suddenly the door was wretched open and she fell over on to the feet of a man in an apron. The startled man dropped the tray of scones he was carrying over to the counter. Alice seized her opportunity and graded as many scones as she could and ran away.

"Come back here you little thief!" The man yelled after her, but it was too late. Alice turned the corner and disappeared in to the back streets of down town London. Stopping at the town market square, Alice caught her breath and started to eat one of the three scones. She had not eaten in a couple days and the scone felt like paradise in her stomach.

Now that she had some food in her, she started to think clearer. She realized that she had sworn last night to find a job no matter what. She sighed and glanced around the market.

'_This is a futile endeavour, but I have to at least try.' _She thought as she made her way over to the vendors' stands.

An hour and a half later, Alice left the market feeling quite dejected. She had been laughed at, called names, been threatened, and flat out refused by the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, and many others. The gloomy weather that seemed to refuse to leave did nothing to help her spirits. She walked down the street and decided to try her luck in some of the shops.

'_After all it only takes one person to run a vendor stand. I'll have better luck here" _She reasoned, trying to lift her mood.

But, alas, it seemed that the dress shop, candy store, green grocers, and cafe did not require her help. As the last shop laughed her out the door she sat on the bench, about a block from the store, to rest her tired feet.

One of Alice's favourite past times, which often got her in trouble with Helen, was people watching and eaves dropping. It was what she found herself doing now on the bench, although no one who passed by was very interesting. Alice slumped a little in her seat and watched as a dark haired man, his wife, and their little girl walked by.

"...Closest shave I ever had, I tell you what." The man stated as he rubbed a hand along his smooth cheek.

"That Todd fellow did look very odd though. And his shop is somewhat less then cheery." His wife said disapprovingly.

"Oh, Katherine give the man some slack. From what I've heard he only opened shop recently. Frankly I don't care how his shop looks as long as the quality of his shaves doesn't lessen."

Alice heart soared at the thought of a new shop. After all, new shops require assistance to start up.

"Excuse me, sir" She said leaping up from her seat and running toward him. The man turned and gave a look of disgust at her, as though he were looking at something vile on the bottom of his shoe.

"Can I help you, miss." He responded. Alice could see he was truly struggling to be civil toward her.

"Might I ask where this Barber shop is you spoke of?" She asked.

"Oh, it's down on Fleet street. Just above Mrs. Lovett's shop. In need of a little sprucing up, are ya lass?" He chuckled a little at his own joke and his wife gave him a strange look. Alice took no offence. She knew that she must look awful right now, and she had had worse things said to her.

"No, employment." She replied. The man smirked a little at her. The same smug smirk that all the shop and vendor owners had given her. She felt like kicking him, but refrained.

"Well, he may need someone to sweep up hair. Best you be on your way and ask. Good day miss." With that he turned and continued his walk with his family.

Alice made her way toward Fleet Street and finally saw a building on the corner which she thought must be his barber shop. It was a duplex. On the bottom was "Mrs. Lovett's meat pies" and on the top was a barber pole. Without any hesitation she crossed the street and went through the gate. Inside the lower shop Alice saw an older woman, who she assumed was Mrs. Lovett, give her a curious stare. Alice paid her no heed and proceeded up the narrow stairs to the shop above. Alice stood in the corner of the building and smoothed her hair a little before turning toward the door.

What she saw made her stop dead in her tracks. Her hand was on the door knob and her feet were rooted to the spot. The man, Mr. Todd she presumed, had just sliced an old man's throat. Blood splattered everywhere. Alice snapped out of her shock as she saw Mr. Todd, whose back had been toward the door, start to turn. She quickly crouched under the door window so she wouldn't be seen and started to crawl away.

Unfortunately for her, her hand pressed down on a squeaky board as she was crawling. It emitted a loud creak, and Alice froze in fear that the crazy man inside had heard her. For a moment she scarcely let herself breathe as tension flooded her senses. A split second later the door was ripped open. Alice looked behind her at Mr. Todd. His wild black hair with a white streak hung in his face a little and his eyes gleamed with anger.

Mr. Todd grabbed Alice by the shoulder, pulled her in to the room roughly, and closed the door behind him. His grip moved to her upper arm and held on tight. Alice knew there would be a bruise there later.

'_Do corpses bruise?'_ She thought morbidly. Her eyes drank up his appearance. Everything from his sallow skin to his white shirt stained red with blood. Mr. Todd raised his bloody razor, and Alice knew in a moment she would be dead. However an odd thing happened. Mr. Todd took a sweeping look over Alice and his angry eyes turned sad and disbelieving.

"Yellow hair..." He whispered to himself and his hand released the blade. It fell to the floor with a resonating thump. A few seconds past as he just stared at her. Then Alice realized that he wasn't staring at her, but rather past her, as though his mind had wandered to a distant memory. Alice wondered vaguely if this is how she looked when she was daydreaming.

"Blonde." She blurted out before she could stop herself. Mr. Todd snapped back to reality and looked at her curiously.

"What?" He asked.

"The term is blonde, not yellow..." She trailed off while mentally kicking herself for correcting a potentially dangerous man. However, he didn't look as dangerous as he had 20 seconds ago and Alice felt herself relax a little. Her heart beat returned to a more regular pace and her breathing calmed. He released his hold on her arm and stared at her a moment.

"Who are you?" He asked in a suspicious yet oddly quiet voice. Alice's mind raced for a believable name she could use as an alias. She had no idea if Helen had people searching for her. If it were so, she didn't want to be found. Alice wondered if Helen was willing to go so far as to search for her for two weeks, just to keep up the charade of a concerned mother.

"Jillian Ackerly" She replied, giving Mr. Todd the combined name of two of her childhood friends. He seemed to believe her. Slowly, and never breaking eye contact with her, Mr. Todd bent down to grab his razor. Alice knew that attempting to run away would be futile. She would be dead before she reached the door. But Mr. Todd just wiped his blade on his already bloody sleeve, and put the blade in his pocket.

Alice knew she wasn't out of the woods yet, and she couldn't help her trembling voice as she asked "What are you going to do with me?".

Mr. Todd took a moment to consider his options.

"You can't leave, you know too much..." He trailed off. Alice's curiosity desperately wanted to ask why he wasn't going to kill her.

'_Curiosity killed the cat.' _Alice thought. Those words held so much significance now and for once in Alice's life she held her tongue. For the first time Alice dared to let her eyes flit about the room. There was blood all over the floor, however there was no body. Mr. Todd interrupted her thought before she could dwell on it for much longer.

"You will work down stairs in Mrs. Lovett's shop as a waitress. She is reopening her shop in a few days and will need all the help she can get running the place".

With that, Mr. Todd grabbed Alice rough by her upper arm again and steered her out the door, down the stairs, and in to Mrs. Lovett's store. The creaking door sounded their entry. A young boy, Alice thought he must be around 10, peered at them from around the counter. Mr. Todd let go of Alice's arm and she stumbled a little in to the room.

"Afternoon, Mr. Todd. Who is this?" He asked, his quizzical eyes darting between the two.

"Fetch Mrs. Lovett." Mr. Todd ordered in a cold voice. The boy didn't need telling twice. He disappeared through the door the calling for the lady as he went.

"Sit." Mr. Todd gestured for Alice to take a seat at a table. She did as she was told, not wanting to anger the man any further. While Alice waited for Mrs. Lovett to arrive her mind teamed with unanswered questions that she was to frighten to ask. Where had the man's body gone? Why had Mr. Todd killed him in cold blood? Was Mrs. Lovett aware that this had happened?

The boy returned to the room with Mrs. Lovett in tow. Mrs. Lovett appeared to be out of breath.

"What is it Mr. T? Toby had to get me from the bake house, and I was in the middle of –" She cut off at the sight of Alice.

"Who is this?" She asked Mr. Todd with narrow, suspicious eyes.

"This is Jillian Ackerly. She came asking for a job in my parlour. I need no assistance. So I thought that you could use her, what with the reopening in a few days."

Mrs. Lovett eyes hardened a little, but her voice was still pleasant as she responded, "No, I don't need any help now that I have Toby around".

"Well I think you will find that you do need her help." Mr. Todd gave her a knowing look, as if trying to convey a hidden message. The tension in the room rose and even that lad, Toby, noticed. He gave Mr. Todd an odd look and glanced at Mrs. Lovett with an almost protective look in his eye. Mrs. Lovett broke eye contact with Mr. Todd and turned to give Alice her attention. Her eyes did a sweep over the blonde's body in almost a competitive way.

"Well then, I suppose you and Toby will be assisting me from now on. Where do you live?" She asked. Alice blushed and admitted that she had no home.

"Well then your pay will go towards room and board. Follow me." Hastily she turned and left the room as Alice scampered after her. They arrived at a small room with a single bed and a dresser.

"You and Toby will be sharing a room." She said and placed a hand on her hip. "I'll see what I can do about fixing you up a bed." With one last icy glance, Mrs. Lovett took her leave.

Alice walked in a daze over to the bed and sank on to it. The reality of the situation caught up with her at last, and she took deep breaths to clear her head.

"You all right?"

Startled, Alice looked over to the door where Toby was standing. He looked somewhat concerned but also a little annoyed.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said while giving him a weak smile.

"You're sitting on my bed." He said. Alice jumped up and apologized.

"Mrs. Lovett said that I was going to share this room with you now." Alice explained.

"Good things only last so long..." Toby sighed. Alice tried to not look too offended. Toby noticed her affronted look and hastily added "I don't mean nothing by that miss. I just meant that I had enjoyed having my own room. When I lived at the work house, I shared a room with 12 other boys."

Toby strolled over to his bed and sat down. He motioned for Alice to join him.

"So," Alice began, "is Mr. Todd always that..." She searched for a word that would convey her feelings without telling the boy to much about what she had witnessed. She could only assume that he knew nothing about what Mr. Todd was capable of. Otherwise Mr. Todd wouldn't have gone through the pretence of hiring her. It must have been for the boy's sake.

'_Or maybe Mrs. Lovett doesn't know either.' _Alice banished the thought almost immediately. Mrs. Lovett was almost as frightening as Mr. Todd.

"Scary?" Toby finished her sentence. "Yeah, don't know what's quite wrong with him, but he's always acted that way."

Alice's face paled.

'_Does that mean he's been killing all this time?' _Alice wondered. Then she giggled a little at what she had just thought.

'_Killing time! I don't think it will stand still in this world though. How dreadful it would be if it did! It would never be sunny again!' _

Toby gave her an odd look at her sudden outburst of giggles.

"Well, I better go see if Mrs. Lovett needs anything. It was nice talking to you, Jillian." Toby said, mostly to get away from the strange girl. Alice was once again left in her thoughts. She gave a glance about the room, taking in her surroundings. The gray painted walls with no windows made her think of a prison. In fact, this was her prison until she could find her way back to Wonderland or Mr. Todd killed her. Whichever came first.

**Please review! Oh, and if anyone cares to tell me how to divide the text on a page with a line, I would be very grateful! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Alice in Wonderland" or "Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street". I would apologise for taking so long to update, but I always take long breaks between updates of any story. A special thanks to ****MahFrehndsArShinee3 who's suggestion in a review got me out of a writer's block. Although I didn't really use his/hers suggestion as intended... **

**Chapter 3**

_The street was cold beneath Alice's shoed feet, and the building before her looked very unwelcoming. Yet her mother led her toward it despite her protests. The wrought iron fence squeaked noisily as Lucy Barker pushed it open. She stopped in the door way and kneeled down so that she was on level with her daughter. For a moment Lucy seemed to be searching for words, her blue eyes were shining with unshed tears. Those blue eyes, which would haunt Alice for years to come, drank in her daughter's appearance. _

"_Mummy, why are you so sad?" asked Alice. Lucy didn't answer her. Instead she reached her hands to the back of her neck and unfastened the clasp of her gold locket, and refastened it around Alice's neck. _

"_I want you to take special care of this for me, it's yours now," Lucy said. "No matter what happens you mustn't forget us, darling. Your Father, Johanna, and I will always be your family." Alice was frightened to see her mother talk in such a manner._

"_Why are we here?" She indicated to the huge building before them. It seemed to stretch a mile high up to the sky. "I want to go home," she added with a note of panic in her voice._

"_This will be your home now," Lucy said as the tear overflowed her eyes. Fear clenched Alice's heart as she threw her little arms around her mother's neck, resolving to never let go. Lucy had to pick her up and carry her still attached to her neck in to the orphanage. Alice's cries were so loud that she could barely hear the tearful exchange between her mother and the orphanage Mistress about how Lucy was Alice's Aunt who could no longer afford to support her. The orphanage mistress agreed to take in Alice reluctantly and gave the pair some privacy for their farewell. _

"_No! Don't leave me here! Please!" Alice wailed as the mistress snapped the hall door shut behind her. Lucy held Alice close to her chest and kissed her on top of her golden locks. _

"_I'm so sorry, my darling. I'm sorry it has to be like this," Lucy muttered in to Alice's hair. _

"_Don't leave! Don't leave, like daddy did!" Alice cried as her little fists grasped Lucy's dress. Lucy gave her one final kiss._

"_Love you forever," Lucy said as she carried Alice to the hall where the mistress was, than left._

Alice awoke in a cold sweat. A shrill call of "up you lot, the day has begun," shook her to the conscious world. The room was very dark as there were no windows, so she had to trust Mrs .Lovett statement that it was indeed morning.

She raised a hand to her cheek and felt that she had been crying in her sleep. Hastily she wiped the tears away before her roommate Toby opened the door and the light exposed her weakness. It had been quite some time since she had thought of the day her mother abandoned her at 'Crawful's Orphanage', though she had remembered some of it in her dream the previous night. Absentmindedly she wondered what had caused her to reflect on that day 15 years ago.

"Morning, Jillian," Said Toby as he lit a candle. "The candle is so that I have some light to change in to my clothes with," he added as he noticed her quizzical expression. Alice caught on to the hint and jumped up to grab her now freshly washed blue dress and change in the washroom down the hall. The blue dress, the same one she had worn in Wonderland two weeks ago, was still her only clothes. However the day before Mrs. Lovett stated that she smelled worse than the London sewer system and guided her to the washroom to wash up. Mr. Todd had lent her a shirt and pair of pants to where while her dress dried, much to Mrs. Lovett's annoyance.

As Alice pulled her dress on in the dingy washroom, her mind wandered back to the last memory she had of her mother. Now fully dressed, she reached in to the bodice of her dress and pulled out the gold locket and popped it open. Inside was a picture of her Mother, Father, baby sister Johanna, and herself. For a few minutes Alice thought of what might have been if her Father hadn't disappeared that day, and if her mother hadn't abandoned her at an orphanage for no apparent reason. A sharp nock on the door brought her wandering mind back to reality. She hid her locket in her bodice again and strolled out to the restaurant room to find Mrs. Lovett waiting for her with a scrub brush and pail of soapy water. Toby, also armed with a pail and scrub brush, leaned lazily against the wall.

"You two are going to scrub the floor 'till it shines. You have to make this dingy old place shipshape in a few days for the grand reopening," Mrs. Lovett stated as she walk toward Jillian pushing the supplies in to her arms.

"You're not going to help?" asked Alice genuinely confused.

"Of course not," Mrs. Lovett replied harshly. "Me knees aren't what they use to be. That's why I have you and Toby here. Hired me some young, virile blood to help out".

Just then the door bell sounded as Mr. Todd strode in to the room. He didn't greet Toby or Mrs. Lovett. He didn't even acknowledge their presence. However he did mutter a "Good morning" to Alice then strode off to the kitchen to get some breakfast. Since Alice's arrival yesterday afternoon something about Sweeney Todd that had been blatantly obvious was that he didn't enjoy any sort of company. He kept to himself, and stayed shut away in his parlour upstairs. This made Alice curious as to why he would go all the way to the kitchen to get food, when he could have just taken a meat pie from the counter between Mrs. Lovett and Alice then leave.

"Does Mr. Todd not care for meat pies?" Alice asked as soon as Mr. Todd was out of ear shot.

"Perhaps he prefers tarts," Spat Mrs. Lovett, who was clearly bitter from Mr. Todd's lack of affection for her. Toby shot a surprised look at Mrs. Lovett, which she missed due to the fact that he was standing behind her. With that Mrs. Lovett strode briskly from the room and left Toby and Alice to the cleaning.

"Shall we?" Alice asked Toby while indicting to the grimy tiled floor. Starting near the entrance to the sitting room they cleaned their way across the filthy floor in silence. Alice also thought this as curious, seeing as something she had learned about Toby since yesterday was that he was very talkative. The entire floor took two hours to finish. Alice vaguely wondered if Mrs. Lovett had ever cleaned the floor or if she thought such manual labour was beneath her. Toby and Alice dumped the dirty buckets of water in to the bath tub and reported back to Mrs. Lovett in the sitting room. She was sitting on the sofa reading a novel and sipping some water. Glancing over the top of her book she ordered them to scrub down the patio tables outside, and dismissed the pair of them with a flick of her hand.

As Alice filled her bucket and followed Toby out the door, she couldn't help but think of how strongly Mrs. Lovett reminded her of the Red Queen. They were both incredibly selfish, had deceased husbands, and unrequited love for someone near them. She supposed that this analogy would have to place Mr. Todd as the role of Stayne. With a shiver Alice recalled how Stayne had ambushed her with a crazed look of lust in his eyes. She hoped that lust was not the underlying reason why Mr. Todd was keeping her here instead of killing her like the man from yesterday.

"Are you alright?" asked Toby startling Alice. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts she had nearly forgotten he was there, scrubbing the same weathered table she was. "You seem very quiet. I hope that Mrs. Lovett didn't upset you," He added.

"No, of course not," Alice muttered, though she was lying. Mrs. Lovett's snide comment had upset her. Toby gave her a concerned sweeping glance, clearly not buying the lie.

"I don't know why she was so rude," Toby continued. "Normally she is such a sweet lady. Though after that I thought it was best we were out of her ear shot before we talked to each other. She hasn't exactly taken a shine to you and it's best not to rock the boat. After all, she does give us decent food and shelter. Which is more then I can say about Senior Pirelli," Toby then launched in to a long winded tale of how he came to live here.

Toby's father, John, had been a Cab driver. Though his job had been simple and their income was probably small, it warmed Alice's heart to hear Toby speak of his father with such adoration. She was sad to hear that John had died when Toby was seven of Typhoid. With no money Toby and his mother, Victoria, had been forced to move in to the work houses. They had been split up in to different rooms and only had a chance to see each other during meal times. The way that Toby described the work house made it sound as though it was a prison. The following year, when Toby was eight, an outbreak of the influenza virus had claimed the lives of many of the workhouse inmates, including Victoria. Toby voice faltered a little when he mentioned his mother's death. He looked rather embarrassed by his display of emotion and then rambled on about how Senior Pirelli had bought him from the work house when he was 10.

"... So then Mr. Todd and Senior Pirelli had a bet over who could give then smoothest shave, and Mr. Todd won. That didn't sit too well with Senior Pirelli, so we came here and Senior Pirelli said he had unfinished business to discuss with Mr. Todd," Toby concluded. He and Alice were now sitting on the table benches by this point. The scrub brushes lay forgotten. Toby shifted nervously in his seat, before adding, "I'm not sure why but after Senior Pirelli spoke to Mr. Todd he left me here. I didn't even see him again after he went up to Mr. Todd's parlour. Although I can't say I mind the switch. Mrs. Lovett treats me much nicer than Senior Pirelli ever did".

Alice's stomach clenched at the thought of Senior Pirelli who she suspected of being murdered in Mr. Todd's parlour. Though she couldn't quite bring herself to pity the man who had caused Toby so much pain, she at least did find the scenario very unjust. Alice wasn't sure why she felt such a strong connection to this boy, who she barely knew. She felt as though he was the little brother she never had, and she had a strong urge to protect him from the heinous evil around him.

"I've been alone for a long time," Toby lowered his eyes down to his hands, speaking quietly. "When my Mother and Father died I was alone in the work house, even though I shared a room with many people. When Senior Pirelli bought me I was alone then too. He hardly ever spoke to me, and when he did it was only insults followed by lashings," Toby paused and raised his gaze to Alice. "You alright there, Jillian?" he asked. Alice looked positively mutinous with rage. Her jaw was clenched, her face was flushed and her hand gripped the edge of the table so hard her knuckles were white.

"I just can't believe someone could harm you like that," Alice spat and bowed her head to hide her moistened eyes.

"Well, it's all behind me now," Toby reassured, though he was surprised that Alice showed so much concern for his well being.

"At least now you are not alone," Alice stated as she desperately tried to gain control of her emotions, and bring some happiness to their otherwise depressing conversation. "You're here with me," She added with a small smile.

"Yes, I suppose I am," Toby grinned back at her. For a moment they sat in comfortable silence.

"So, how did you end up here?" Toby asked, shaking Alice out of her reverie.

"I'm sorry?" she asked, one of her pale blonde eyebrows arched quizzically.

"You said yesterday that you were homeless, until now that is. I was wondering how that came to be," Toby elaborated. Alice gave him a sweeping look as if to speculate how much she should tell him. Her instincts told her that she could trust him completely, but she had been wrong about so many other things before. Alice sighed and glanced down at the table unconsciously picking at the peeling paint.

"Well," Alice began, "We're more similar than you think. I'm an orphan as well". Toby's eyebrows shot far up on his forehead. Alice proceeded to tell him the edited version of her story, leaving out her trips to Wonderland. She didn't want him to think she was crazy after all.

She told him all about the orphanage, where they were basically slave labour until adopted. The head mistress, Miss Crawful or as the children frequently called her Miss Awful, had them sew clothing to be distributed to various stores. Miss Crawful was a bitter and rude woman but she had never done them any physical harm. The other children had never got along with Alice because she was very strange and always had her head in the clouds.

At the age of six Charles Kingsleigh had adopted her. He had loved her quirky personality and was horrified to hear that she had had no friends in the orphanage. That day he bought her beloved cat, Dinah. Dinah had been by far the best present anyone had ever gotten her. Alice glossed over the next 15 years of her life, briefly telling Toby about her sister Margaret, her mother, and father.

"After my Father died," Alice said, "His company was sold, and my sister was married off to a well-to-do man. Two weeks ago was my engagement party. I was to asked to marry Lord Hamish but he wasn't the right man for me so I refused. My mother and I had a huge fight that night and I ran away from home. Long story short that is why I was homeless," She finished sheepishly. She had kept her eyes on the table the whole time and now glanced up at Toby to see his reaction. She doubted he would believe her.

"So let me get this right," Toby began looking dumbfounded. "You had a good education, a decant family, and a would-be fiancé. You threw it all away because you didn't love him?"

Alice gave an exasperated sigh. It wasn't his fault he was too young to grasp the situation.

"Would you marry a woman you absolutely hated just for the title and money?" Alice asked him. He considered it for a moment before answering that he would. Alice looked at him disbelieving.

"Money can't buy you happiness," She stated before getting up and continuing her work so Mrs. Lovett wouldn't yell at her. The air between them was a little tense after their disagreement but it didn't stop Alice from requesting that Toby not mention anything about her to Mrs. Lovett or Mr. Todd. He looked a little surprised but agreed anyways. They were both thankful for the distraction of Mrs. Lovett. She came out of the shop carrying a tray of food, presumably for Mr. Todd.

"You lot not done yet? It's been nearly two hours," she exclaimed as she crossed over to them and placed the tray on a table.

"No ma'am, not yet," Toby said humbly fiddling with the scrub brush in his hands.

"Well you best hurry up. There will be no lunch for you until these tables are clean." She said this only to Toby. She didn't even glance at Alice.

"Pretty young lass that you are, better not be distracting Toby from his work," Mrs. Lovett said fiercely and gave Alice a stone cold stare. Alice refused to break eye contact with her as she said "No, Ma'am".

Mrs. Lovett walked back over to the tray of food and quickly primped her hair before picking it up. She walked up the stairs toward Mr. Todd's parlour as her false cheery voice floated down toward them.

"Mr. T, brought you some Lunch, dear."

Alice couldn't help but smirk at her wasted effort. How anyone could love such a bitter old hag was beyond her.

**Review Please! I thrive off of them. This was basically a background information chapter. I promise the next chapter will be more exciting. **


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